Braydon Lapeyrouse

Rel 122
The Prince of Darkness is a Gentleman-William Shakespeare
The devil is not smart because he is the devil; he is smart because he is old. This quote
was given by Ernest LeRoy Hatch and quoted by James E. Faust in his October 1987 General
Conference talk entitled The Great Intimidator; casts an interesting light on the cunning wiles of
the Adversary. Faust goes on to state: Indeed, the devil is old, and he was not always the devil.
Initially, he was not the perpetrator of evil. He was with the hosts of Heaven in the beginning
(Faust, paragraph 18). There are many ways in which the devil coerces us into destruction. He
can mimic the messages of our Heavenly Father, use pride to close our ears and cloud our minds,
and he frustrates our progression by confusing us; convincing us that we need more than we do.
As we prepare to conquer the devil, we must remember how he operates and that there is never
solace in his kingdom.
Who has not heard and felt the enticings of the devil? His voice often sounds so
reasonable and his message so easy to justify. It is an enticing, intriguing voice with dulcet tones.
It is neither hard nor discordant. No one would listen to Satans voice if it sounded harsh or
mean. If the devils voice were unpleasant, it would not entice people to listen to it (Faust,
paragraph 8). Perhaps Satans greatest asset is his words. He has proved himself time and time
again to be quite eloquent in terms of flattery and he has lead many away unknowingly. As one
who had once stood among angels, the devil has had plenty of time to perfect his craft. Satan is
able to mimic the revelations we receive from our Father in Heaven. He can give us false
inclinations that what we are feeling is the Spirit. Oft times, we are encouraged to
seek out answers from our Heavenly Father and act on the promptings we receive. If we dont act
out of doubt or if we are not worthy enough to receive promptings from the Spirit, Satan has a
chance to be able to step in and submit a few of his own. Fortunately we were taught by Alma in
the Book of Mormon how to be able to tell the difference between revelations and whether they
come from God or from the devil. Alma tells us to give place, that a seed may be planted in
your heart, behold if it be a true seed or a good seedit will begin to swell within your
breastsand you will begin to say within yourselves-It must needs be that this is a good seed
(Book of Mormon, p.290). Later will look at how these subtle messages of deceit thwart our
progression towards becoming like our Father in Heaven, but its important to recognize that
these messages sometimes come unto us through the mouths of false prophets, or even though
unspoken ideals or themes.
False idols such as social status or wealth have plagued man since the beginning of its
creation. Satan uses these to diminish our devotion to God and in his teachings. If we are too
focused on the temporal things around us, we cannot focus on our Savior and in his Gospel.
These idols are not just limited to physical objects. Ideals of opposition which can lead to
secret combinations of men or conflicting parties can also grip our hearts and cause us to lose
sight of what matters most. Consider this quote by President Spencer W. Kimball take from his
message The False Gods We Worship: Therefore, in all ages when men have fallen under the
power of Satan and lost the faith, they have put in its place a hope in the arm of flesh and in
gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know
(Dan. 5:23)that is, in idolswhatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his
god; and if his god doesnt also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is

laboring in idolatry (Kimball, paragraph 14). We can combat this deceit of the devil by keeping
our eye focused on the glory of God and on his eternal plan for us. God intends for us to be
happy, and as long as we listen, he will lead us back to him.
The sad reality though, is that we all too often are lifted up in our own pride and choose
to not listen to the words of our Father in Heaven. Satan uses pride to confuse us and to cloud
our judgement. Pride is of the greatest of threats to our success as mankind. Pride has spawned
wars, caused heartbreak, torn apart families, and it diminishes the light that resonates within us.
It its because of pride that the the Nephites lost their great city of Zarahemla to the Lamanites.
We read in chapter four of the Book of Helaman: And it was because of the pride of their
hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea it was because of their oppression to the poor,
withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting
their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the
spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery,
rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the Land of Nephi, among the Lamanites
(Book of Mormon, p.375-376). Fortunately for us, God often combats pride and brings things
back into perspective through humility.
Whether we humble ourselves, are stubborn enough
until we are compelled to be, pride will always result in our downfall and we must try to avoid it.
As drastic as a fall by pride, Satan doesn't have to do much to frustrate our progression.
Earlier, we talked about how Satan mimics revelation from our Father in Heaven. Satan fills the
gap that our doubt creates and by not acting in faith on the revelation we have received from
God, we fall subject to the devils words instead. When we dont act on faith, we are unable to
strengthen it and in turn lose hope. As we learn from the seventh chapter of Moroni, hope is the
assurance that what we have faith in is true; that our faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement is
true. Without faith and hope, we are unable to learn of charity. Without true charity, we limit
ourselves in understanding and becoming like our Savior, and if we are unable to do this, we are,
as the scriptures say, nothing.
No matter the amount of effort the devil has to put in to accomplish his goal, we can be
assured that thwarting our eternal progression is always his endgame. Whether by giving us false
revelation, clouding our judgement through pride or false idols, or by simply causing us to lose
faith, the devil will unceasingly attempt to lead us unto destruction. The battle for our salvation is
never ending and in this war against the devil we must remember to put on the whole armor of
God. An interesting part to note about the armor of God is that it the only part of the body that it
does not explicitly cover is the back. That is because when we go to war with the Adversary, we
cannot turn our back on him. We cant let our guard down even for a moment, because in that
moment, Satan will strike us down from behind. There is no individual on this Earth he will not
tear down. No clean thing he will not tarnish, and no soul he will not drag down into Hell. Even
those who main acquire gain and wealth in the devils kingdom can be assured that one day they
will fall. Let us learn from Korihors example in the Book of Mormon that even the devils
servants will betrayed in the end. In the thirtieth chapter of Alma we read: And thus we see the
end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support
his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell( Book of Mormon, p.285).